Richard Kwang Kometa
24 March 2009
Pope Benedict XVI's maiden visit to Cameroon ended on March 20, 2009 but the echoes of his presence within Christian faithful remain strong given the concrete nature of the messages and the large following that he attracted. As the successor of St. Peter, Rock upon which Jesus Christ built the Christian Church, the Holy Father rightly announced during his farewell speech at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport that "the principal reason for coming to Cameroon, of course, was to visit the Catholic community here."
Such a candid declaration notwithstanding, the contacts with other religious denominations, the visit to the sick and afflicted at the Cardinal Léger Centre in Etoug-Ebe, Yaounde, the visit to the Presidential family as well as the pontifical mass at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium among others, transmit concerns that hinge on what the followers of Christ in Cameroon and Africa need to better live their faith.
To the Christians, the Pope prescribed courage and determination in combating ills such as poverty, hunger and injustice wherever they meet such vices and to the clergy, he called for a sense of communion and chastity in the spirit of unity and fraternity. By focusing on these values, Pope Benedict XVI may not have been saying anything new but making a useful pointer to the sacerdotal role of the clergy in building a strong Christian and human society.
Undoubtedly, the nerve centre of the papal visit to Cameroon was the promulgation of the Instrumentum Laboris for the second special assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops. While most Christians may still be in search of the content of the document, the theme is already significant: "The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace".
The underlining tone of the document as indicated by the entire clergy from Africa that turned out in Yaounde for the papal visit and as demonstrated in the theme of the Instrumentum Laboris is that the family, the society and all missionary community have the challenge to actively take part in looking for solutions to the ills that bedevil the African continent in particular and humanity in general.
Attaching deeds to words, the Vicar of Christ took comfort to the aggrieved in Cameroon as he placed his hands on the forehead of the handicapped at Etoug-Ebe on March 19, 2009. Such gesture showed that faced with several social, political, and economic challenges, the Christian Church has the daunting task of copying Pope Benedict's example by getting down to the roots of the ills through a revived Christian faith. Thus, the Supreme Pontiff's visit beyond being a moment of communion, called for a reawakening of the Christian doctrine with a focus to bringing peace, hope and stability to Africa.
Cameroon could, in fact, play a strong role in this regard, given the special symbolism that the Church places on her position as Africa in miniature. President Paul Biya recalled this challenge in his welcome address to the Pope when his said that "how can one fail to subscribe to the call by the Church for more justice for African populations which are being decimated by pandemics, misery and hunger, which are sometimes deprived of their basic rights and subjected to degrading living conditions?"
It may appear logical that the promulgation of the Instrumentum Laboris takes place in Cameroon since the proclamation of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, which was the fruit of the first special assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, took place in Cameroon in 1995 by Pope John Paul II now of blessed memory.
Now that the document for the second assembly for Africa for the Synod of Bishops has been released again in Cameroon, Christians in this country have the difficult task of spiritual reawakening as torch-bearers within the continent.
Of course, their African peers must do same given the presence of their Bishops in Yaounde from March 17-20, 2009, who personally collected copies of the Instrumentum Laboris from the hands of the Holy Father.
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God Bless Pope Benedict XVI
don't mistake the pope and catholicism with christianity. kthanksbye.